The question is: who will be the Superbowl 41 MVP? Philip Rivers has been getting a ton of press this off-season. Some of it good, some not so good. Many so called "Analysts" claim he is no better than a rookie, and that the Chargers are in for growing pains with him at the helm. They tell you about his 30 NFL passes. They tell you about his funky sidearm delivery. They tell you he will take the whole season to get up to NFL speed.

Amazing these analysts don't remember a couple of years ago when a certain motorcycle-challenged QB took his rookie arm and won 13 games. Year 2 he won a Superbowl. They also don't remember that the same QB was valued by most teams and analysts as the third best QB behind Manning and Rivers. He had good skills but he had played against small schools without much talent. He had never played against anything close to a USC. He never played against a pro-style defense.Yet he was able to adapt and play at a high level from day 1. Why did he do so well? How about an amazingly strong defense that stuffed the run and covered well. How about a good O-line that kept him off the floor most of the time. How about a future pro-bowl running back in Jerome Bettis. How about solid receivers in Hines Ward and Plexico Buress.

Now these "Analysts" rank the Chargers as finishing 3<sup>rd</sup> in the AFC West? Well I for one cannot wait until this season starts and he starts to prove them wrong. Rivers is a star in the making. Anyone thinking he cannot take the final step has not been watching Rivers career very closely. This kid has won at every level of football. He comes from a football family and has been breathing football since he was in pull-ups. He is a 5 time College Bowl MVP. Yep 5 times. That means as a Freshman, he was the MVP of a College Bowl game. He married in college and has 3 daughters. Rivers is quite possibly the most seasoned and mature QB to ever leave college. He owns the NCAA record for career starts at 51. He is in the top 5 of pretty much every passing record in NCAA history. Also, he was in the ACC and played many solid teams. My question here is how can these "analysts" look at Philip and see anything else but a future pro-bowl QB?

Rivers has a solid team surrounding him that will sand out any rough edges he has this first year. He has the best RB and backup RB not too mention FB is the game today. He has a solid and up and coming receiving corps which may end up being the tallest group in the business. He has a work-in-progress line but with more talent than last year and with two better coaches, they look to be solid if they can stay healthy. But the difference maker for Philip won't be on the offense side of the ball, it will be the defense. The Chargers are fielding arguably the best defense in the NFL this year. There is no reason to doubt that the Chargers will be the #1 rushing defense in the NFL again this year. They have only gotten better in this aspect. With the dominance of the front seven and the increase of talent in the secondary, I expect the Chargers to at least break the top 15 in passing defense this year, down from 28 last year. Of course they will have a hard time being in the top 10 as people will be passing all day long trying to get back in games but this team will improve in defending the pass.

Rivers has spent two years with basically the same play book he will be using this year and he has studied it and learned it well. We are talking about a very intelligent athlete. This is not the guy who got good grades in school because of how good an athlete he was, he earned it. His study of film, playbooks, defenses, and of the preparation of one of the hardest workers in football, namely Drew Brees, has done nothing but make this QB the most "Ready" rookie QB ever. This is not the start of his education. This year will be the culmination of his preparation. This year will mark his 6<sup>th</sup> "Bowl" MVP. Only this year it will be "Super"! Mark my words Charger fans, and if you don't believe me listen to Trumpet Man, this is our year, and Philip Rivers is the answer!